Privacy and Google Lens

[Pelagic]

Is this a game changer?

My Android phone was just updated with a new (to me) feature called Google Lens.

Once activated, you take a picture of anything or anybody and it will give you all it knows.

This makes me very unomfortable as privacy and security can no longer be kept incognito from strangers.

Am I over reacting ?

[Montanan]

Google Lens is an image recognition technology developed by Google, designed to bring up relevant information related to objects it identifies using visual analysis based on a neural network. First announced during Google I/O 2017, it was first provided as a standalone app, later being integrated into Android's standard camera app.

Google Lens is an AI-powered technology that uses your smartphone camera and deep machine learning to not only detect an object in front of the camera lens, but understand this and offer actions such as scanning, translation, shopping, and more.

Google Lens was one of Google's biggest announcements way back in 2017, but it was a Google Pixel exclusive feature when that phone launched. Since then, Google Lens has come to the majority of Android devices - if you don't have it, then the app is available to download on Google Play.

What is Google Lens?
Google Lens enables you to point your phone at something, such as a specific flower, and then ask Google Assistant what the object you're pointing at is. You'll not only be told the answer, but you'll get suggestions based on the object, like nearby florists, in the case of a flower.

Other examples of what Google Lens can do include being able to take a picture of the SSID sticker on the back of a Wi-Fi router, after which your phone will automatically connect to the Wi-Fi network without you needing to do anything else. Yep, no more crawling under the cupboard in order to read out the password whilst typing it in your phone. Now, with Google Lens, you can literally point and shoot.

Google Lens will recognise restaurants, clubs, cafes, and bars, too, presenting you with a pop-up window showing reviews, address details and opening times. It's the ability to recognise everyday objects that's impressive.

What can Google Lens do?
Aside from the scenarios described above, Google Lens offers the following features:

Translate: You can point your phone at text and, with Google Translate plugging in, live translate text in front of your very eyes.

Smart Text Selection: You can point your phone's camera at text, then highlight that text within Google Lens, and copy it to use on your phone. So, for instance, imagine pointing your phone at a Wi-Fi password and being able to copy/paste it into a Wi-Fi login screen.

Smart Text search: When you highlight text in Google Lens, you can also search that text with Google Assistant. This is handy if you need to look up a definition of word, for instance.

Shopping: If you see a dress you like while shopping, Google Lens can identify that piece and similar articles of clothing. This works for household decor and more, too, via relevant reviews and shopping options.

Search around you: If you point your camera around you, Google Lens will detect and identify your surroundings. For us that meant IDing the kinds of plants, breeds of pet cats, and highlighting reviews of DVDs from our entertainment stand.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Am I over reacting ?

Nope. If anything, you're under reacting.

Of course this is just the natural continuum of Google's (and FB's, and others) efforts to try and convince people that privacy is not only unnecessary, but actually bad.

People are exchanging their personal space for shinny digital bobbles. This is a common story in our culture. Warnings about the Faustian deal have been with us since antiquity. Yet so few today seem to understand that this is exactly what they are doing with the embrace of so much of this technology.

[sailingabe41ds]

No you are not over reacting and I think the second post missed the boat completely. Nobody is asking what it is...the OP is concerned about privacy and technology. The minute you start taking pics you are telling them one more thing that you are interested in so that they can continue making a profile on you.
Think about this. When I open Google to search it gives me news that it know I am interested in. Think about it again... we all use to watch similar news nationally. Now Google will give some people pro radical black lives matter news....another group pro right wing racist type news...an so on. The different news tailored by Google to a specific ethnic political group reinforces their points of view which could easily divide us further as a nation into hating each other without even knowing it.
Yes, you should be very concerned on how a few people have so much power to manipulate thoughts, voting patterns, and manipulate what to love and whom to hate....and it all started by knowing your likes and dislikes and keeping a profile on all of us.
It is now just a simple take a picture to see what it is....its is about profiling you. Imagine if the Soviet Union and the Eastern Block countries had this technology during the Cold War to use on their people or the Nazis in Germany. Today, our own FBI and CIA are doing the same thing to us as well as BIG TECH. Who knows what subliminal messages will they be sending us further dividing us. I am very concerned.
How about this. You see a woman wearing a dress and you take a picture of her because you might want to buy it for your wife. Not only did you give yourself your likes, and your wife's likes since AI assumes you are buying it for her and it already knows whom you are married to, but AI recognizes who the woman wearing the dress is and you just gave Google more information profiling an innocent unsuspecting person walking by. Think about what additional information you gave if she was standing next to her car with her license plate in view. What if I was a stalker? Yes, be very concerned.

IMHO
Abe

[Pelagic]

Thats exactly what bothered me Abe.

Couple with face recognition/ Facebook data and location services, that girl could easily become a target.

[sailingabe41ds]

What is even more scary is the lack of interest by people on this topic. They watch us and gather information and ban us and sensor us if we challenge them . We have transformed to sheeples.
Abe

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by sailingabe41ds

What is even more scary is the lack of interest by people on this topic. They watch us and gather information and ban us and sensor us if we challenge them . We have transformed to sheeples.
Abe

Exactly. The attack on privacy, and the carte blanche feeding of even more personal data to the great Google Monster is obvious with this technology. We could even mitigate against this one with specific legislation. But what is truly scary is that too many people don't even seem to care anymore.

As I said, this is happened not by accident. Google et al. are training people to think privacy is passé; that we shouldn't care about such trifling things. And the message is working. How many people here say stuff like "I've got nothing to hide, so who cares?" Or "I'm too boring for them to care."

As I (and many others) say, it's not 1984, it's Brave New World. We're all happily and voluntarily taking our Soma in the form of digital bobbles.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Is this a game changer?
...
Am I over reacting ?

It has been going on for years, and no, you are not overreacting.

10-15 years ago I would take photos of my kids sports games, and to share them with the parents and kids, I would use a Google service. Course the service was "free." One could, and I did, set up authentication to those photos so only parents and the kids could get access, but that only negated one threat to the children's identity.

I stopped using the "free" Google service, and setup my own website, when Google started to put a little red box around each kid's face and would ask me to name the child.....

Think about it. What were they doing? Why?

They were getting me to identify children, BY NAME, which is bad enough, but they were going to use that information to "train" their code to recognize people under a variety of conditions. Their code could already recognize a face, and furthermore, could recognize multiple faces in the image. Once that face was tagged, they could then trace that child on other images that people put into their service, OR that Google could find on the Internet.

That was 10-15 years ago...

Think about it. What were they doing? Why?

Google says Don't Be Evil, oh wait, I think they stopped using that phrase. Google has been doing things, that if they are not Evil, they can be used FOR Evil.

Orwell could see the future though he got the wrong date, but unfortunately, his future, our today, seems to be getting worse than his original bleak vision.

Later,
Dan

[tradrockrat]

Remember the most important fact of the internet age:

"Nothing in the digital world is free. If you are not paying for it, YOU are the product for sale."

[SailOar]

FWIW

Don't use Google products as much as possible.

Don't use Chrome browser.

Use Firefox browser, and set to delete all cookies when exiting.

Or use Opera browser, and use their VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK ability, as well as deleting cookies at end of session.

Don't use GMail

Use ProtonMail.com, which has end-to-end encryption, which not even ProtonMail can decrypt. It is based in Switzerland, so the US government can't demand an unencrypted back door. (Unfortunately, all your correspondents also have to be using ProtonMail for the end-to-end encryption to be fully useful.)

Don't use the same email for business and social correspondence.

etc.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by SailOar

FWIW

Don't use Google products as much as possible.

Don't use Chrome browser.

Use Firefox browser, and set to delete all cookies when exiting.

Or use Opera browser, and use their VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK ability, as well as deleting cookies at end of session.

Don't use GMail

Use ProtonMail.com, which has end-to-end encryption, which not even ProtonMail can decrypt. It is based in Switzerland, so the US government can't demand an unencrypted back door. (Unfortunately, all your correspondents also have to be using ProtonMail for the end-to-end encryption to be fully useful.)

Don't use the same email for business and social correspondence.

etc.

Oh, but Gmail is so easy, and it's free! And all those Google Docs are so great to use and to collaborate with, and it's free! And all that mapping is so wonderful, and it's free! And Chrome is so nicely integrated with my other devices, and it's Free! And Google search, well of course it's the best, and it's free!

What an amazing company. They do all of this for us out of the goodness of their hearts, and they expect nothing in return. Amazing ...

:non ono:

[Gadagirl]

It's a huge concern. Data mining. Think Cambridge Analytica. But worse, because your data is bought and sold to multiple corporations, governments, and even possibly illegal entities. Ie. Terrorist organizations.

I'm not at all prone to buy into conspiracy theories. I know that last sentence I wrote in the above paragraph might make me sound as though I do. But think about it. If your information can be sold to Cambridge Analytica, what stops them selling it on to any other entity? Nothing stops them. The only reason we know about Cambridge Analytica is because of investigative journalism. Our information is probably held by so, so, many entities that we are totally unaware of. I'm aware of some entities that have my information due to hacks. But what goes on covertly we don't know.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Oh, but Gmail is so easy, and it's free! And all those Google Docs are so great to use and to collaborate with, and it's free! And all that mapping is so wonderful, and it's free! And Chrome is so nicely integrated with my other devices, and it's Free! And Google search, well of course it's the best, and it's free!

What an amazing company. They do all of this for us out of the goodness of their hearts, and they expect nothing in return. Amazing ...

:non ono:

But it is WORSE than that!

Decades ago I got talked into GMAIL but a Coop we hired. Even though he was in college, he had started up a website that was making money with Google adverts as well as some other sources. We had many an interesting conversation about The Google Money Machine. He was already getting offers to sell his website...

He graduated, joined the company, worked for a few years while his website increased in value...

He sold the website, made millions and retired. Before he was 30...

So here I am, at work while he is of .

I don't think he actually bought a sailboat but he did retire and is off doing what he wants.

So what is really bad about Google services is that they are a drug. Once you start using them, you are hooked and getting away from Google is difficult. The longer you use, the harder to break the habit.

Here kid, try this, the first one is free...

Later,
Dan

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by dannc

...So what is really bad about Google services is that they are a drug. Once you start using them, you are hooked and getting away from Google is difficult. The longer you use, the harder to break the habit.

Here kid, try this, the first one is free...

Oh it's Way WAY worse than that... Well, no. That's exactly right .

Addiction is a direct analogy to how these new "surveillance capitalist" companies operate. They dangle the nice shinny services... look how easy it is to get an email account or collaborate on a document. Or look how easy it is to stay in touch with all your "friends" ... And while you're at it, here are some more people who are "friends." "Are they friends? Good to know," says FB.

Ask almost anyone why they stick with Facebook and they'll probably tell you they don't like the company, but all my family and friends are there, so I have to stay on just to keep in touch.

Addiction is a great business model. Just ask the nicotine and alcohol companies. Or ask your local drug dealer. They get it.

[Mirage35]

"Privacy" and "Google" don't belong in the same sentence.